Samsung has reportedly postponed launch events of the Galaxy Fold in China.
The exact reason is unclear, but it follows reports of the foldable phone's review units breaking here and there. In other words, it's another piece of bad news that's plaguing the South Korean brand's innovative device, leaving some customers worried about whether the promised April 26 shipping date in the United States is going to be delayed or not.
Galaxy Fold To Ship On Time?
As reported by SamMobile, "someone claiming to be familiar with the matter" says that Samsung canceled its launch event in China because of an issue with the venue.
However, Ice Universe, a noteworthy tipster when it comes to leaks and such, told the Samsung-dedicated website that there were two other local activities related to the Galaxy Fold that have been called off as well. This means that the official reason about a venue issue isn't the whole story. If that were the case, then it's possible a hardware problem is the root of the cause.
SamMobile points out that another potential cause of the delay is that the company could be working on making the warning labels clearer, particularly about the polymer coating on the inner display. Removing this layer, which looks like an ordinary plastic screen protector, breaks the device, and it's what most reviewers in the United States did with their units.
In addition, Richard Lai of Engadget Chinese confirmed that the launch events in Shanghai and Hong Kong have been postponed.
All that said, a Samsung spokesperson assured customers that the April 26 shipping date in the United States is still on, according to Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal.
Fragile Innovation
While the majority of the breaking Galaxy Fold phones is because of reviewers removing the polymer coating, there's one report of a bulge appearing on the crease and eventually ruining the screen. Another one also said that the left screen of the inner display started flickering after one day of use. Just to be clear, the reviewers didn't peel off the plastic layer in both cases.
According to Samsung's statement, it's going to "thoroughly inspect these units in person." Regarding how the phone breaks when the protective layer is tampered with, it added that it's going to "ensure this information is clearly delivered to our customers."
